


Hawkins' newest nerd

by acertainperson



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Runaway Suzie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:21:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25040815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acertainperson/pseuds/acertainperson
Summary: Suzie has arrived in Hawkins after running away from her old home in Utah. Now it was just a matter of adjusting to her new home in this small town where, as they say, nothing ever happens. (Sequel to Runaway)
Relationships: Dustin Henderson/Suzie, Maxine "Max" Mayfield & Suzie, Suzie & The Party
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. Day 1

After her arrival in Hawkins and reunification with Dustin, Suzie had slept for half an eternity. Even though it was only about 9 when she decided to go to bed, she had slept an entire 15 hours, until 12 o' clock the day after. She hadnt slept in a proper bed for about 5 days by that point, the closest thing to one having been the back bench of a minibus outside of St. Louis, the worst having been a metal bench in the central station in Kansas City, where she had met the owners of the previously mentioned minibus, and accordingly, when she got to sleep in a real bed, she used the chance. After waking up and taking a shower (As the Mississippi River was a replacement for a shower, but not a very good one) she decided to get around to unpacking all the stuff she had packed after running off. And there was, quite literally, a lot to unpack. As she opened up the bag though, she discovered something that she hadnt expected. A photograph of Jen, Don, Percy, and Alec, the four drifters who had taken her all the way to Hawkins from Kansas City. She certainly hadnt put it there, but if one thing was for sure, then that she would put that photo into a frame. She may not ever meet them again, but at least she wouldnt forget their faces now.

Shortly after, though, she noticed that the house was oddly quiet. Infact, it didnt seem like anyone was there at all. After a moment of brief confusion, she remembered that today should, mathematically speaking, be a weekday, and therefore, obviously, Dustin would be at school, and his mom at work. But, she did feel rather hungry, and decided to head for the kitchen. There, she found a note on the table.

 _Dear Suzie,  
we already had breakfast, but you slept  
like a rock, even though we tried to wake  
you up. Feel free to serve yourself though,  
this home is also yours now afterall.  
  
Love, Claudia  
  
  
_Claudia, she could only assume, was probably Mrs. Hendersons first name. She found it rather sweet that she considered her to be on first name basis, but since, at least for the forseeable future, Suzie would probably stay with Dustin, they would probably end up on that level rather soon anyway. And from what little of Hawkins she had seen so far, she already knew that she would love the place in its entirety. And this Max girl, whom she had already unknowingly met, who knew, maybe she could teach her how to skateboard. Her parents wouldve probably disapproved of it, for quite the variety of reasons, be it that thats not a girl thing to do, or because they disapproved of the culture surrounding it, or a combination of both, or whatever other reason they would end up coming up with on that particular day. One of the many reasons she grew up to be as much a nerd as she was, infact, was her parents' insistance to not let her go out and have fun with any of the things others her age had fun with.  
  
On Dustins side, the day so far had been great. Just yesterday, he had been downtrodden after Suzie hadnt replied to any of his radio messages in days. Then, out of the blue, his girlfriend had showed up on his doorstep, and ended up moving in with him. Accordingly, Dustins mood that day was rather positive overall. He rolled up to Hawkins High with a wide smile on his face that morning, knowing that, even with how tragic the events were that lead up to this point, at least Suzie was safe and sound, aswell as not multiple states over. And well, it didnt take long for his friends to figure out that at least something had conspired eversince Lucas had tried to get Dustin to cheer up, just to be repeatedly repelled, once even being threatened with a reminder of what it felt like to get hair spray blasted into ones face.  
  
"Well what happened to you, Dusty-Bun." Lucas said, right back into his old teasing manners, as Dustin rolled up, "Did you two get to sing your song again?" "Very mature of you Lucas." he said, rolling his eyes, "But no, firstofall we didnt, and second, youre not gonna believe what did happen." "Wait, what happened?" Mike asked, joining the pair shortly after. "Well, how do i best explain it," Dustin said, "To make it short, youre gonna get your chance to meet her real soon. As soon as today infact." Mike almost fell of his bike as Dustin said that. "You mean, shes here in town?" he said, "And it seems she will stay for the forseeable future." Dustin said, as Max also rolled up to the group. Having not witnessed the conversation, she only knew the group was in termoil. "Whats kicking boys?" she asked rather nonchalantly, to which she got the reply, from all of them in unison, "Suzies in town!"  
  
"Suzie?" she asked, in disbelief, "As in, Dustins girlfriend, that Suzie?" She had questions. More than one, infact. "And unless theres another redheaded skater girl in town that i dont know about, you already met her yesterday." Dustin told her. "You mean, that girl with the heavy bag? That was her?" she asked, "Howd she even get here?" "How about you save your questions for later?" Dustin said, "Doesnt seem like she will leave town anytime soon."


	2. Meeting the Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day after her arrival, Suzie meets the Party. Well, those left anyway, and tells them all her story.

Though Suzie had at least learned to cook back at home, she didnt feel like making anything fancy. She figured she would leave the fancy cooking up to Mrs. Henderson (Which wasnt to say she wouldnt be happy to help her if the chance presented itself) so she decided to just make herself some scrambled eggs. Though the note didnt exactly leave open the question as to wether or not she was allowed to use the kitchen, it did feel weird to be all alone in this house, which, although it would be her new home in every relevant way for now, still felt like that of stranger, making herself food. But, deep down she knew that she had been given the okay to do this. She missed Dustins company already, even though he wasnt several states over this time. It was quite weird, actually. Back in Utah, she had yearned to see him for weeks and months, but eventually learned not to think about it all the time. Once she came here though, she couldnt help but do so. Maybe even because Dustin was so close they could talk in person any time now.

After she had her brunch, as far as you could even call a plate of scrambled eggs brunch, that is, she decided to sit down infront of the TV, now that noone was there to tell her which series she was allowed to watch and which were "godless" as her parents had always put it. Most of the time she just jumped through the channels, trying to find something that looked remotely interesting, a lot of it, though, was just various ads, among them a rather weird ad for Pepsi starring Michael J. Fox, music videos, and the occasional news channel, one of which reported on a fire in some kind of psychiatric facility, aswell as various series and movies that happened to run at the time, but none managed to capture her interest that much since around this time, most people didnt really have the time to watch TV anyway, and most of what was sent were reruns.

In the meantime, while the rest of the Party had by now come to accept that Suzie, after saving the universe without even knowing it, was infact very real indeed, Lucas in particular had his doubts as to wether she was actually in Hawkins, as unjustified as those doubts were. Afterall, Dustin had known about Max seeing her the day before, and she wasnt exactly the type who wouldve gone along with Dustin just to prank the others, and Dustin did seem rather happy about something after Suzie hadnt replied in 5 days. But then again, even with busses and trains existing, travelling that far wouldve been expensive, and 5 days seemed just a bit too short to easily believe. "Come on Lucas, Max even confirmed it." said Mike, on their way up Maple Street, replying to yet another complaint on Lucas' side about the story, "Theres no way hes lying about it." "But then how did she get here within 5 days?" he asked, "And wouldnt it have been cheaper to just take a flight?" "Like anyone would let a random 14-year-old without any family onto a plane." Mike replied, "And besides, planes arent like busses. You cant just walk in and pay for a ticket, its a lot of paperwork."

While Lucas and Mike spent some more time bickering about Dustins claims, Dustin himself was on his way home, having split off from the rest at Cherry Oak as usual, though by now, Mike and Lucas had changed their route to go up Old Cherry and Dearborn, as that had them also pass Max' house while they were at it, rather than going up to Gloucester, then left and up Maple Street like they used to. Suzie didnt see him coming, as of course, the way the house was built, she simply couldnt, but she knew what an opening door sounded like. "Hey Dusty-Bun." she said, with a smile on her face, as she peeked around the corner. "Morning sleepyhead." he chuckled, pecking her on the cheek, "You shouldve seen Mikes face when i told him about you, he nearly fell off his bike." Suzie had been wanting to meet Dustins friends since she arrived yesterday, and Dustin had told her hed at least try and convince them to come over the day after. "And it seems like theyll all show up, im sure Lucas will, he didnt really believe me."

Much like Dustin had predicted, it didnt take long for everyone to show up, with them all arriving near the same time. First came Lucas, which didnt really come as a surprise to Dustin. Afterall, Lucas had been the most skeptical over those claims. "Hey Dusty-Bun." Lucas joked, still not convinced, "So where is-" he was then cut short when he came around the corner to the living room, where Suzie was still sat down in. "Hey there." she smiled. Mike shortly after joined them, himself having a face of disbelief. "She really is hotter than Phoebe Cates." he muttered under his breath, earning himself an elbow to the side by Lucas. "So, i take it youre Mike then?" Suzie asked, concluding that, since Will appearantly moved away not too long ago, that was the only option. "Nice to meet you." she said, offering her hand to shake, which the two boys accepted, still bewildered. Max didnt take that long to arrive aswell, being the only one who wasnt taken aback by the fact that Suzie was, indeed, in Hawkins, as she had seen her just the day earlier.

"Whats wrong boys?" Max snickered, "Really that hard to believe?" She then turned to Suzie. "I believe we already met yesterday, did we not?" she asked. "I think we did." Suzie confirmed, "So, um, welcome back?" It used to be that Dustins place had somewhat outgrown the party when both El and Max had become members, but now that El and Will lived far away from Hawkins, the remaining 4 members, aswell as now Suzie, still fit around the living room table, and so they came to sit there. Suzie wasnt around that many strangers that often, but her time with the drifters, aswell as being on the road for a few days, had toughened her up considerably, and the fact that Dustin knew them made things a lot easier afterall. "So, uh, how come youre here at all?" Lucas asked. Now that he knew Dustin was telling the truth, he wanted to know the details. "Well, my parents found out about me and Dustin, and wanted to seperate us. So i ran away and just travelled east until i came to Hawkins." she said. "Your parents must be worried sick!" Max said, "I mean-" "My mom if anyone." Suzie said, "And they both didnt hesitate locking me in my room when i talked back to them." "Lock you in your room?" Mike asked, "Over a boyfriend?" "Over someone whos not mormon and whom theyve never met before. Thats their real issue. They dont care about the fact were a couple. If anything thats a worsening factor. Mormons arent supposed to have friends outside the religion, letalone romantic ones."

"That sounds like bullshit to me." Lucas said, "Why would that not be allowed?" "Oh come on, its a classic cult tactic." Max noted, "Cults love to control every aspect of your life. The way you act. The way you look. Even the way you think. And thats a lot easier if youre only friends with people who believe the same things they want you to believe." "You mean to say the Mormon Church is a cult?" Suzie asked, somewhat shocked. She had heard people throw that word around every now and again, but she had been told not to trust outsiders on anything they told her about her faith. Now that she herself was effectively an outsider though, her parents likely having gotten her disfellowshipped by now, if not excommunicated, she couldnt deny that if what Max just said was true, there were some things about the religion she was taught that definitely fell under that umbrella. Now that she thought about it, she had a point. Infact, the more she thought about what she had been taught, the more gaps and contradictions she saw in those very teachings.

An awkward silence had taken over the room as those thoughts went through Suzies head. Everyone had noticed that she wasnt about to jump into defensive actions over her religion, and the tension in the room was too high for them to continue on. "So, those drifters you told me about," Dustin said, breaking the silence in the room after what had felt like an eternity for them, "Howd you meet them?" "I met them back in Kansas City. Worst sleep of my life. I dont know what was worse, the trains, or the fact i slept on a bench inside the train station using my own clothes as a matress." "Explains why you slept like a rock today." Dustin commented. "Most other nights werent that great either. Anyway, i approached them because i hoped theyd fare a bit better than i did. Some of them were runaways just like me. I spent a few days with them. They were quite nice actually. Even though they did drugs. Turns out weed brownies are a real thing, appea-" "See, i told you!" Interrupted Mike, "So much about adults making them up, Lucas. Thats 10 Dollars for me." Suzie couldnt help but giggle at the exchange, causing Dustin to smile. He couldnt help but smile at her adorable giggle. Infact, it seemed that the others agreed with his assessment, if you could even call it one. "Well like i was saying," she eventually continued, "So i talked to them and they took me all the way to Hawkins, over the course of a few days. And after that i encountered you Max, and asked you where Dustin lives, and i was there a few minutes later. I doubt ill see that crazy bunch ever again, but i sure hope i do, i bet youd love them." "And we should take you to the Arcade here." Said Max, "I bet youd love the place. You do seem like the type." Suzie definitely was curious to go to the Arcade in town, aswell as spending some more time with Max. She was secretly hoping that Max could maybe also teach her a thing or two about skateboarding, just one of the many things that she had been wanting to try out, but never got around to actually trying out due to the fact that her parents had their ideas when it came to what was an okay thing for a girl to spend her time with, and skateboarding wouldnt have been on that list even if it wasnt for the other factors disqualifying it, like the culture that came with it, aswell as their general distrust of any such things as outsiders. But once again, now that she was de facto an outsider herself, that wouldnt be an issue anymore. "Sure." she said, "Ive never been to one but ive always wanted to go."


	3. A Saturday in Hawkins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Party takes Suzie to the Arcade, and she finds some common ground with Max in the process.

As Suzie awoke on this saturday morning after spending some time meeting the Party the day before, for a change, it wasnt noon, but rather, it was about 7. She wasnt sure if she had awoken by herself, or if the smell of eggs and bacon eminating from the kitchen had awoken her, though it was probably a combination of both, but it certainly didnt help her hunger. She stood up and went over to the kitchen, where she was immediately greeted by Mrs. Henderson. "Good morning Suzie." she said, as the girl entered the kitchen, "I see youve not slept through today." Suzie chuckled, "I really needed that long night of rest." she said, "Nothing quite like a real bed i guess." "I hope you like eggs and bacon, but i dont think youre gonna have a problem with it by how fast you showed up here." "I dont think ive ever had it, but it sounds tasty." Suzie said, sitting down at the table, as Dustin joined them aswell. "Morning." Dustin said, pecking Suzie on the cheek and sitting down with her. Suzie just then realized that it had been a week since she ran away from home. An entire week! And yet, just a week? Her sense of time had been quite a blur recently.

Mrs. Henderson then served up the eggs and bacon, which Dustin dug into. Suzie found it kind of cute, actually, how Dustin managed to get excited even over the small things in life, and gave it a taste too. She wasnt disappointed. "This is really lovely." she exclaimed. "Glad to know my cookings got a new fan." Mrs. Henderson chuckled, "Do you two have any plans for today?" "Nothing unusual." Dustin said, "Over to the arcade was my thought." Suzie liked the idea. She hadnt been to one before, but Max had already mentioned that one existed, so she was eager to go. Besides, Max seemed nice enough, AND she knew her way around skateboards. Thinking about that part again, the prospect of standing on a skateboard did sound rather intimidating to her, but then again, it was probably like learning to ride a bike now she thought about it. And besides, she did run away from home, all alone for a good part of her journey. There really wasnt any reason why skateboarding could be that much more dangerous than either of those things, right? But for now, one thing at a time. The arcade was next on the list. Once there, maybe she could talk to Max and learn some skateboarding basics.

After finishing their breakfast, Dustin scrambled to grab some quarters while Suzie got ready to go out, as unlike him, she hadnt gotten around to changing yet. They then got onto Dustins bike for the rather short trip down towards the arcade, it being but a few streets away. Waiting outside already were Lucas and Mike, still awaiting Max. "Hey guys." Suzie said with a smile, as they approached them. Due to a lack of clothes to change into, Suzie looked considerably more mormon this time around, but there was a good chance that noone would really notice inside the rather dimly lit arcade, even if it was down to the people there being too focused on games. "Hey lovebirds." said Lucas, in a mildly teasing tone. Suzie didnt care though. She reckoned that they had all teased each other about their relationships at one point. And besides, they hadnt even believed she was real the first time Dustin had told them about her, which, given the circumstances, was somewhat understandable, even if she still wasnt sure why Dustins first call after camp was about Plancks Constant, or why he took so long to reply in the first place. Sure, she hadnt expected an instant reply, but she found it weird that he had taken as long as he had in the first place.

After just a short wait, Max came along aswell. As they stepped in, Suzie was blown away. Confused, but blown away. It took her a second to take in the sounds from the various games in the hall, aswell as the lighting, though she did think the place could really use a ventilation system. There were so many games, she wasnt sure which one she should even start with. "Youve not been to an arcade before have you?" Max chuckled, "I guess we should start with a classic then." She then took Suzie to a nearby arcade machine, a yellow one reading 'PAC-MAN' on the top, in a very stylized font. "Now this should be simple enough to figure out." she said, giving Suzie a quarter, which she put in, to which the game came to life. She then found herself in control of a little yellow circle with a mouth that appeared to be opening and closing repeatedly, which she steered through a maze dotted with small white dots. "You need to collect all the dots to get to the next level." Max explained, "And dont let the ghosts get you. Though, if you get one of the big pellets in the corner, they turn blue and you can get them for a brief time." The game seemed simple enough to her, and she had already sunk a quarter into the game, so she continued playing, to find that avoiding the ghosts was actually a lot more difficult than it had initially sounded. 

Not only did the game not always end up doing what she wanted it to do, but she also noticed after a while that the four ghosts, instead of simply chasing her around, all seemed to follow their own rules. One appeared to be in constant pursuit, while another, rather than chasing Pac-Man, always seemed to want to cut her escape route off. The third always seemed busy trying to attack from the flank, but only when the first was close. The fourth would occasionally charge just like the first, but then abandon said charge upon coming closer. It was a complicated game, for sure, but after a few close calls, aswell as a death, she eventually got the hang of it and managed to get all the way to Level 3, the ghosts getting more aggressive over time, before finally losing her last remaining life aswell. Once in the High Score Screen though, she was quite impressed to find that others had thus far exceeded her record manyfold. "Wow, some people really put time into this." she said, impressed at the high scores. "You should see my score in Dig Dug." Max said, "The boys wouldnt believe its real when they first saw it." "Well that was one impressive score." Dustin noted. "You better hope im not a natural in it then." Suzie said, curious about what other arcade games the place had to offer. For now, however, she popped another coin into the Pac-Man machine, taking on the four ghosts once again. She played a lot better this time, often narrowly avoiding the ghosts, but hey, even a narrow miss is a miss right? And in this case, that was positive. She continued, getting all the way up to Level 5 this time, where the ghosts began aggressively running her down and eventually costing her all her lives. As much as she wanted to keep trying for the record, she knew that she would need a lot more quarters to try out a bunch of other games.

Another one she decided to try was a game called Frogger. This one was decidedly slower in pace, being more about timing and precise movement than Pac-Mans rapid movement to collect a bunch of white dots. She controlled a frog, faced with the task of crossing the road, preferrably without being run over by the cars, aswell as a river, which for some reason, that same frog couldnt swim in, yet various turtles could. Though simple, and not exactly the type of game she could spend her days playing, the later levels admittedly got much harder, as the movement speed of various obstacles increased, so perhaps someone could see an appeal in that game. As Max had told her about Dig Dug, and so she decided to give it a try herself. This game also had less of the speed of Pac-Man, being more about thinking ahead. There were several monsters on screen which she could defeat by using a kind of air pump attack, or alternatively delay that way. At first, her method was to defeat each enemy seperately using said pump, but then, after several attempts, she accidentally realized that the rocks on screen could be used to crush enemies, and thereby defeat them, getting more points in the process. While she knew she wasnt all that good, she was rather impressed to realize that her barely making 6000 points in her best attempt didnt even come close to the scores that Lucas and Dustin had achieved, scoring around the 730000 point region, while Max' record, so far, had peaked at barely above 800000. "How much time did you guys spend playing this game?" she asked, surprised at how long it mustve taken them to achieve those numbers. Sure, she had played the game for all but 15 minutes, but even then, she wasnt sure how any could ever get this good at the game. It mustve taken them months, if not years!

Next in line for her was a game called Galaga. This one was on the faster side of the games she tried. She found herself controlling what she could only describe as a space fighter, shooting at various object that came zooming onto the screen, just to form up towards the top. The game appeared rather boring at first, until those things she was firing at began shooting back and occasionally swooping down at her. "So thats what its like?" she chuckled, suddenly taking a liking for the game, as she shot back at the various- whatever they were- coming in for attack runs. She began racking up points quickly, when one of the enemies came down and, instead of shooting, cast some kind of rings, forming a blue cone, in which her fighter got grabbed. "No fair!" she complained, before aiming at the enemy that had just captured the fighter, and, upon hitting said enemy, finding herself with double the firepower. "Now thats what im talking about!" she said, before really getting into the game. However, as it turned out, the doubled firepower also meant double the profile, and double the chance to hit. That said, considering the current high score, she did set a pretty impressive personal best after eventually losing all her lives. "Not bad at all." Mike commented, notably impressed at that first performance. The arcade certainly had her hooked now.

"Are there any games for more than one person?" she asked. Surely, someone had to have come up with it before, right? "That new game Contra has a two player mode i think." Lucas said, "But if its as hard as the NES one its probably a money sink." Undeterred by this info, Suzie and Dustin went over to the game and, after waiting some time, getting their shot at playing the game. The two took control over two males who, at least in terms of their muscles, were quite far into Schwarzenegger territory, and found themselves in an unspecified jungle, where not only numerous soliders, but also various machines were out to get them. And Lucas was right, the game was quite the challenge, though it looked far better than all the others she had played thus far. They eventually ended up collecting icons, or 'Power-ups' as Dustin had called them, which gave them various weapons, of which the one that would spray shots in various directions was clearly the best. It didnt take long for both of them to die repeatedly, much as Lucas had predicted, but they had great fun in the process, even as they stalled halfway through the first level. The rest of the day was spent with the group moving around from machine to machine, playing various games, Suzie sometimes just watching alongside the others, sometimes playing herself, and having a great day in the process, until the crew eventually ran out of quarters, which took surprisingly long all things considered.

As the group headed out, she briefly left Dustins side to talk to Max before either of them departed. "Max," she began, "So, you know, i saw you skateboarding the other day and well, i wondered if you could teach me." She really had no idea of skateboarding, but she figured that, since she knew someone who did, that would be her best starting point. "I mean, it doesnt have to be right now of course, but its not like im leaving Hawkins anytime soon." Max seemed somewhat surprised at this proposition, actually, but at the same time, she felt like Max was happy that someone was showing interest in her hobby. "Well i mean, im not like a skater pro or anything, but i guess i could. Hows tomorrow?" she proposed, "I dont have anything on my agenda, unless my mom's made some plans that i dont know about that is, but i dont think thats likely on a sunday." "Sounds like a plan, sure." she said, "Tomorrow is fine." "And better wear jeans." Max told her, "Dresses and skateboards really dont mix that well." "Makes sense i guess." Suzie chuckled, before turning around and following Dustin back home.

"Seems you and Max are getting along well." Dustin said, as she rejoined him. "Shes pretty nice." Suzie replied, "I hope she can teach as well as she can skateboard." "Hmm, a good teacher, she will surely be." Dustin replied, doing his best Yoda impression, to which Suzie gave him a confused stare. "You know, Yoda?" he asked, "From Star Wars?" "I-i dont, actually." Suzie replied, "I wasnt allowed to watch it." Dustins jaw dropped when she told him. "You mean youve NEVER seen Star Wars?" he asked, "You missed out on something, those movies are classics." Being how the Mormon Church was strictly against violence, any movies that had "war" in the title were right out for Suzie. But surely, if Dustin liked those movies, they couldnt be as bad as they made it out to be, right? Then again, was this what her parents had tried to warn her about? Was she just now on the descent that her parents had told her would come, were she ever to leave? At the same time, hadnt she asked this question time and time again, even before she ran away, just to see this thought disproved time and time again? She pushed these thoughts aside for now. Surely, if Dustin loved these movies, he would have them on VHS, right?

"You dont happen to have them, do you?" she asked, "Star Wars, i mean." "Are you suggesting a movie night?" Dustin grinned, childishly as ever, "I mean, we should still have the time to watch them, though we probably wont get through so much as 2 of them." "That does sound like a plan." she smiled, and so, the plan for the evening was set. After arriving back at Dustins, no, at their place, Dustin got to work convincing the TV of working, before tossing some microwave popcorn in. Soon, the oh so pleasant smell filled the room, as the two of them claimed the couch, and a wall of yellow text started scrolling on screen.


End file.
